We were in Adare, Ireland with very dear friends. Mark and I decided to make dinner, so I bought a cookbook. Mark and I sat down on a park bench while the others were sightseeing and decided what to make for dinner. I picked out this recipe for Root Vegetable Cobbler to go with the…

This Scalloped Potato Gratin is the perfect special dinner, ok, any dinner potato. It has everything I love; cream, potatoes, thyme, freshly grated nutmeg, and Gruyere cheese. They are so creamy and the flavors are intense! When I finally found a vintage gratin dish that I had been looking for such a long time, I…

My favorite way to eat zucchini is in chocolate cake, but Zucchini and Pine Nut Fritters come in as my second favorite. The zucchini is grated raw, which preserves the fresh, green flavor. They are a lot like Potato Pancakes but with a softer interior, the fritters get their extra texture from the pine nuts…

I finally found a large bean pot to make Mom’s Baked Beans recipe! I found this great bean pot in Texas, on an antique buying trip with my friend Kathy in Montgomery, Texas. It is just perfect! There are some recipes that you just have to make for a picnic, this is one of them….

I have been looking for a really good Sake Fried Rice recipe. So this is a combination of an old and a new recipe. Our friends own a Sake brewery, so I wanted to make sure I include their Blue Current Sake in the recipe. After you cook the rice, chop the scallions and the…

I made these Smashed Potatoes with Chives for a dinner with friends and they were serving steak. I needed to bring something that would transport easily and that I could finish when I got to their house. They are crispy on the outside and creamy on the inside. They are delicious with beef, lamb and…

This Sausage Herb Stuffing is another recipe from Grandma Toots. I have it hand written in my book, there are no measurements, just ingredients. I taste tested these amounts and it tastes just like Grandma’s did. Isn’t it interesting how much the smells and the taste of food reminds us of our childhood? I chop…

I make this No Cook Cranberry Orange Relish for Thanksgiving every year, no matter where I am. It is fresh, and as tart as you want it to be (less sugar, more tart). The color is beautiful on the table and I like it so much better than the canned cranberry sauce, no offense…

I made this Carrot Salad with Sake Lemon Dressing for a special dinner with friends, who also happen to have a Sake Brewery in Maine (Blue Current Sake). The heirloom carrots were still at the market and they are so beautiful and so delicious. I used a mandoline to make the slices very thin, but you…

This is Grandma Toots’ potato salad. It is the creamy kind with the crunch of vegetables. Every time I make it, and every time I taste it, I think of all of the family events where this was enjoyed. Every family gathering, confirmation, graduation, pre-wedding, everything! Even people in our family that do not…